Pretty much none of this is known to anyone, save maybe a cliff notes version she'd have told Raxis when they first met. If you want to know it in character, get to know Laratha.

If any lore is wrong, let me know and I'll try to fix it but I did study up on the lore of Westfall before writing this. If you know anyone who might want to play Durly Ironboot let me know, I'm always willing to tie backgrounds, but obviously he needs to be a dwarf priest of the discipline specialization. There are also two cousins who are blank slates other than being sent to the orphanage, if someone would like to play those. Also I apologize for the numerous grammatical, spelling, and usage errors, I had to type this up in wordpad.

Note if you're queasy there is a bit of violence in this story (not an insane amount though).

Laratha's life started as a simple one. She was the third child born to one of the small farm families in the territory of Westfall. Life was quiet, and peaceful. When the rest of Azeroth shook from Orc's bloody wars, or the Burning Legion's grand designs, most people ignored Westfall entirely. Then the Defias Brotherhood came.

No one really cared about a windy chunk of the Eastern Eingdoms filled with country bumpkins and the occasional gnoll. It had little in the way of resources, and wasn't exactly in the path of any great army. However the people of Westfall had always thought of themselves as members of the Alliance, partners with their cousins in the city of Stormwind. They sent their crop, and thought that meant they were protected. Laratha had just turned 14 when the Defias Brotherhood started raiding farms. Her parent's farm was one of the first attacked. No one expected it, and while her father, brothers, and uncles attempted to fight off the Brotherhood, they fell rather quickly to the trained bandits. Laratha herself attacked one with a pitchfork and had an axe lodged firmly in her side as a reward. She laid there bleeding to death as she watched most of her family be cut down by the bandits.

Laratha passed out from blood loss long before the fighting was over though. Most of her family was murdered, but she and a couple of her cousins were saved by an old dwarven miner who happened to be visiting the local mines for survey. Durly Ironboot chased off most of the remains of the Brotherhood (they were not unscathed from their attack) and got the children to safety in the town of Moonbrook.

When Laratha finally woke up most the town was already packing its things to move on. Ironboot explained the situation to her. She'd been comatose for over a week, her cousins had been sent to the orphanage in Stormwind, her family was destroyed and it looked as though the entirety of Westfall was soon to follow. Stormwind did not send troops, only a promise to eventually help when greater dangers had been dealt with. Laratha was crushed as much as anyone would be in the situation. The townsfolk wanted her to come with them, but she refused. She heard about several of the farmers were going to try and make their way, Defias be damned, so she figured she could as well; maybe working odd jobs as a farmhand. It was hard work but it made her tough. Laratha slept in the local farmer's barns, moving every week so she'd not be too much a burden on any one family; but slowly the Brotherhood's threats and outright murders caused more and more farmers to leave their homes for better lands.

One day after watching the Molsen's finally pack their wagons and leave, she snapped. Laratha picked up a large piece of firewood and dragged it to the edge of the farm, where a couple Defias leaned against a tree; laughing at the Molsen's as they became nothing more than shadows in the distance. The "leader" looked at her with a dangerous amusement. "Can we help you with something kid?" He asked, not noticing Laratha's right arm swinging upwards from below.

The rest of the small gang sat in shock for a moment as they saw their boss's yellowed teeth fly out of his mouth, nearly ten feet into the air as he flew backwards and landed against the tree with a dull thunk. Then they sprang to action as Laratha began aiming for the most painful areas a blunt object could hurt. She was stabbed several times, but she didn't feel it. She didn't feel her hand bleed from the splinters of the firewood either, everything was red as she hit them in the head again and again. She finally stopped when the wood broke in half, firmly lodged in one man's skull. That was about the time that a Death Knight named Lesala ran over the hill, ready to kill whatever Defias were making a girl scream the way she was.

She stopped a good ten feet away and approached Laratha carefully, like one would a scared horse. "Its okay girl. Its over now." She cooed quietly as she took the wood from Laratha's hand and slowly led her away from the grisly scene. Having once been in the scourge, Lesala understood loss of control and despair better than most. After cleaning the gore off of her to the best of Lesala's ability and healing her wounds, Lesala took her to Saldean's farm to be cared for. She stayed for a while, but eventually her own journey led her away from the tiny farmstead. However she promised to find Laratha again, and when that day came she'd protect her so that what happened to Laratha before would never happen again.

Once Laratha was in her right mind again she realized she could no longer stay in Westfall. Fighting the Defias was almost impossible, there were too many and she was too weak. They would be looking for her now as well, someone always wanted revenge when someone was murdered. She wouldn't put the Saldeans into harm's way if she could help it, so she snuck out in the middle of the night, leaving a thank-you note. She hated Stormwind, and didn't want to go there so she headed south, thinking to head to Stranglethorn Vale. She was almost into Duskwood when she saw the old dwarf again.

Ironboot had stayed in Westfall as well, he was working for the Explorer's League, and was there to survey the Dagger Hills for any artifacts or rare minerals he could find. Laratha stopped to thank him for all she had done for her, what she had intended to be a five minute talk ended up as a conversation that lasted the rest of the day. Durly Ironboot was worried about her, for obvious reasons. He knew she had potential to be more than a wandering bum, and he new her mind must be healed from the trauma the Defias had caused. He convinced her to stay with him at his camp for a few weeks before moving on, to make sure her choices were what she really wanted, and not just out of desperation.

They struck up a friendship; he out of pity for a stubborn orphan, she out of ardor for her hero. He showed her how to tell the difference between useless rocks, quarry stone, and precious minerals. She would forage for berries and steal the Defias's food when they weren't looking for lunches. Occasionally Lesala would stop by and check on her when she was in the area, and for a brief while Laratha was happy again.

Over time she learned he was a former priest, one who did not agree with all the teachings of the Dwarven religion; but also thought going to the opposite end and causing darkness and pain to everything they saw was just as despicable. So his wanderings were what made his path, and he taught Laratha that the only thing to truly believe in was what was right in front of you. The truth can be wonderful, it can also be ugly and nasty. However the truth was reliable, and one should always seek it out, even if it endangered you. Deceit was to be tossed aside and one should never lie. (Though side-stepping uncomfortable topics was something else entirely). A life like that would hurt others, it would insult others, and people wouldn't like you; but it would also make others see that there was more than their perception of the truth. If one who lived that way was really lucky, they'd even find people who would accept them for it, and maybe even like them for it. Happiness, anger, fear were all tools! If you didn't keep emotions in check everything would fall apart. Murder only in defense, but strike out for revenge when one laid a hand against you.

The light could give one amazing qualities in helping people, it could also hurt if you wished it. That was truth. The shadow could destroy one's enemies without ever touching them, and if one was inclined- help your allies survive surprising trials. That was also truth. However to be able to balance both sides of the never ending struggle people believed was there was the real truth. The truth was there was no struggle, these things just were, and one should believe in them, and use both sides to their advantage, rather than condemn either. Over time Laratha realized not only was he teaching her what he believed in, he was making her believe it herself.

One cold Spring day Durly began packing his belongings. Laratha realized that she had spent nearly a full year with the dwarf, and his time must be well past due for the League's contract. "Where are you going next?" She asked him.

"Oh I heard that there are some amazing artifacts in Northrend. I want 'te see them for myself, before Bronzebeard claims them all." Durly said, putting on his backpack.

"Northrend is really dangerous though. Is it really okay if we go there?" She said, confused as to where she fit in the picture. Laratha hadn't even thought of the option of not being with Durly.

"Girl, ye cannot go with me there. You're too young and too green. I care about you too much to put you in that kind of danger. Besides, yer growing up. You should be with your own people." He commented nonchalantly as he stamped out their fire.

"What should I do then?" Laratha started to cry. She didn't want to be alone again, she felt a cold fear creeping inside her.

Durly sighed, kicked the dirt and looked at the sky. "This is like kicking a stray puppy ye accidentally fed. Eh. Come on, you can't go with me the entire way, but come with me to Northshire Abbey. Ye'd make a good priest, even if I have ruined ya for the human church's precious doctrines. If nothing else, they can't turn you away, they're the Church." He said, and without another word he headed North.

Laratha bit her lip. She could run away again, maybe go South like she originally planned; or she could follow Durly. "He hadn't steered her wrong so far." She thought as she wiped the tears from her cheeks. She was terrified, she didn't want to have to learn how to be around normal people again. She didn't want to have to deal with anyone but Durly and Lesala. The trip was a silent one, and went faster than she would have liked. In the end she watched as Ironboot and Priestess Anetta spoke quietly over her situation.

"I'll come find you Durly. You can't stay ahead of me forever." Laratha said as he turned to go.

Durly smiled. "Ye best catch up quickly then girl. I'm a man with wandering feet, I don't like to stay in one place too long." He said, tipping his hat to both the ladies before heading off in the direction of Stormwind.

Laratha was accepted into the priesthood, but was watched closely. People found her to be a quirky woman, who didn't seem to have a temper till she snapped and became violent. She preferred to stay solitary, but that was mostly because she didn't know how to interact with people without confounding or insulting them. Most early acolytes complained about things; the work was too hard, they didn't want to be celibate, what if the war spread to Elwynn. She'd simply remind them that other people had it much worse than them. Some called it bullying, she called it "truth".

While Priestess Anetta found her promising, she didn't like the doctrine thoroughly ground into her by Durly. Laratha's stubborn streak never allowed her to change her ways however. So she spent three long years, bored out of her mind. She studied, but most lore seemed haphazard to her. She honed her basic nature skills and found she was a good herbalist, and even without Durly pointing it out she found she was better at mining than most. Finally Anetta gave up ever teaching her differently and let her find her own path, and let her time as an acolyte finish.

Once Laratha was an ordained priest, she headed out into the world. It had changed and become more difficult since she was a farmhand. She was out of shape and out of practice at protecting herself, but when she saw that Defias had even slithered into Elwynn Forest she was quick to practice on them. She knew the anger would always be there, and she would always have to learn to use it, rather than wield it blindly but it was difficult at times. She headed to Goldshire to deliver a message when she met a Death Knight. She looked into his glowing blue eyes and saw kindness there behind the darkness and death. He reminded her of Lesala.

She learned his name was Raxis and after some time agreed to join his guild, the Knights of the Nine. There had recently been a tragedy in his former guild that lead to the creation of the one she was joining, but that didn't matter to her. What mattered to her is she talked the way she always had, and he didn't think it was odd at all. Laratha vaguely realized she had made her first friend in a long time. Over time she became friendly with the rest of the guild, and was working hard at becoming strong enough to find Durly again when a goblin walked up to her. "Boy have I got a deal for you!" He said, handing her a pamphlet.

She looked at the paper that said "Kennedy Klampaphlange's Kalimdor Kruise! An adventure in relaxation." She looked back up at the goblin and cocked an eyebrow.

"Lady, you look way too overworked. You powergrind like that and eventually you'll burn out before you ever get to be one of them big heroes in Northrend." The goblin grinned with a mouth of razor sharp teeth. "You should try one of these. I've seen ya around, from the looks of your gear I know you can afford my very fair price. All I need is your Marcus Jonathon right here on this line and you can spend a whole month in blissful ignorance of everything around you. You never have to get off the boat, but if you want to we have tourist locations lined up! We even have a safari lined up if you really need to kill things!" Klamaphlange persuaded.

"Hmm. You're a bad liar, but I could use some time off." Laratha said aloud. Kennedy started to be angry but his grimace instantly turned into a smile when he heard her agree. So Laratha wandered off on a vacation, forgetting that normal friends tell each other when they won't be available. She sat on a boat for a month, drinking Rumsey's Rum and enjoying herself.

Little did she realize that when she'd return the guild would be gone. Her friends had made the decision to offer the Knight's services to the Republic of Nasam. However other than a small note mentioning it she didn't have a clue what to do. She mailed a letter to Raxis to let him know she'd returned. He happily informed her this was a good change, and to give it a chance. He would contact her when he could, and have her indoctrinated into the Republic. She was vaguely aware this was her own fault, but temper kept flaring up. Ogres died with great gusto from the situation. She was also reunited with her friend Lesala, and together they worked to destroy the enemies of Azeroth and Outland.

She focused her efforts on helping out another guild till Raxis was finally able to contact her again. She joined, with reservations, and in the end took her frustrations out on Raxis, who was already under enough pressure as it was. She regretted it later, but events cropped up that made it impossible for her to tell him.

After a while she finally felt at home in the new guild again. The Republic had a strong heart, its leader Wilhelm. Best of all he had a sense of humor, so when she said something that seemed gruff and insulting him laughing usually made other people think it was a joke. Laratha felt safe and at home again. That was when a goblin walked up to her one day. It was Kennedy Klamaphlange's greatest competitor, Earnest Pennypocket. He offered her an even better vacation than the one she'd been on. "An Eastern Kingdoms Extravaganza!" He called it. By day he gave a tour from his mini zeppelin at all the wonders of the Eastern Kingdoms, from a safe aerial distance of course. By night, Laratha stayed in a goblin spared no expense hotel.

Laratha looked at the goblin as he pitched his competing vacation. She realized she must have sucker written on her forehead and shrugged. "Sure. Why not?" What was the worst that could happen? Laratha was pleased to see that not only had the Republic stayed when she returned, but also grown large. It was filled with new people, it was filled with new adventure!